Network computers that are infected with malware may present a threat to other computers on the network. For example, a computer that is infected with a virus may spread the virus to other computers. The virus can be transmitted by e-mail or by any other electronic communication across the network.
In view of the above, conventional network protection systems may shut down a computing device's connection to a network upon detecting that the computing device is infected. For example, a network protection agent running on the computing device may detect that the computing device is infected with malware. The network protection agent may then quarantine the computing device by closing the computing device's network connection. To close the connection, the network protection agent may simply disable the computing device's network card.
Unfortunately, using the conventional systems discussed above may have various drawbacks. One major disadvantage of conventional endpoint network management systems is that quarantined computing devices may not be able to obtain assistance from other nodes on the network. Rather, malware infection at an infected computing device may need to be neutralized manually, and locally, without any assistance across the network. Thus, while a simple quarantine of an infected computing device has the advantage of preventing a computing device from infecting other devices on the network, quarantining the computing device has the disadvantage of isolating it from notes that might provide assistance.
In view the above, the present application discloses systems and methods that may provide the benefit of quarantining the computing device while overcoming one or more disadvantages of the conventional systems discussed above. Numerous further advantages and benefits are achieved in the systems and methods described below.